LOS ANGELES — It's no surprise that Leo Santa Cruz opted not to disparage his opponent, Miguel Flores, when the two met Thursday afternoon at the Conga Room in downtown Los Angeles. Santa Cruz defends his WBA featherweight title against the long-odds underdog Flores in the Feb. 16 main event of a Fox-televised card that will take place walking distance away at the Microsoft Theater.

Santa Cruz is one of boxing's premier nice guys. He treats all of his opponents with respect and says he will prepare for Flores as if he's preparing for a world-beater. Flores has lost two of his last three fights to gatekeeper-level opponents and is unanimously considered in over his head against the three-division champion, but Santa Cruz sees Flores as the first step toward cementing his legacy as one of the best Mexican fighters to emerge in the past few decades.

"I wanted a unification against Oscar Valdez [or] Gary Russell [Jr.]. [Carl] Frampton was going to fight against [Josh] Warrington so I couldn't get that fight," Santa Cruz told Sporting News. "I said the winner I could fight but I wanted to fight before so [Flores] was the opponent that was offered to me. I wanted to fight already, I just fought one time last year. But hopefully, I get this win over Miguel Flores and bring the unifications."

Santa Cruz turned 30 in August, two months after beating Abner Mares for the second time at Staples Center. He kicked off the previous year avenging his only loss by winning a close bout against Frampton, then waited nine months to fight fringe contender Chris Avalos, who beat Flores in a wonky fight July 2017 due to the doctor stopping the fight on cuts. As with NFL running backs, hitting 30 usually brings a steep decline for fighters in the lower weight classes, but Santa Cruz still feels he's one of the best fighters in the sport.

Santa Cruz is intent on fighting three times in 2019 and says he has been promised that by his handlers. With Al Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions landing deals with both Fox and Showtime — and now ITV in the UK — it seems Haymon is likely to deliver on that promise. That has been the one knock against Santa Cruz during his career, that he hasn't been active enough and that when he has, he sometimes has been in against guys who are way overmatched.

If 2019 goes as planned, it'll be the most important year of Santa Cruz's career. There are easy fights to make, with fellow featherweight titleholder Russell under the banner of PBC. Josh Warrington just beat Frampton and is promoted by Frank Warren, who has a great relationship with PBC, having made the fight between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury last month.

"I was already told I was going to get at least three fights in 2019," Santa Cruz said. "After this fight, I said I wanted to unify and they told me, yeah, that I could unify. There's going to be unifications — it could be maybe against Josh Warrington, Gary Russell. It don't matter. Whoever it is, I just want to unify."

Russell is the antithesis to Santa Cruz. He seems content fighting just once a year, which he has done dating to 2015. In an October interview with RingTV, Russell indicated he's in the final stages of his career with maybe three years left. Like Santa Cruz, Russell is 30, but because of his inactivity and fighting style, he has taken much less punishment than Santa Cruz has.

"I don't know why he doesn't want to fight more times a year," Santa Cruz told Sporting News. "For a fighter like me, if I could fight four times a year I would be happy. The more I fight, the better for me because I'd be getting my record up, I'd be unifying, I'd be adding more belts and it's more exposure."

Santa Cruz wants the Russell fight and would consider it the biggest fight of his career.

"A lot of people consider Gary Russell one of the best in the division, maybe the best, maybe even better than me," Santa Cruz said. "I think it could be the best fight that could happen."

A week before Santa Cruz and Flores are slated to fight, former Santa Cruz foe Mares will face rising talent Gervonta Davis in an intriguing matchup up the street at the StubHub Center on Showtime. Santa Cruz sees a move to 130 pounds in his future and a matchup with Davis being a potentially major matchup.

"I want to be a four-division champion," Santa Cruz told Sporting News. "I've been a three-division world champion. Hopefully [I'll] unify the 126[-pound] division and then I want to move up to 130 and keep on growing my legacy. I want to be remembered as one of the best in boxing."

Santa Cruz's father, Jose, sees a matchup with Davis down the road and specifically wants that fight for his son.

"He's been telling me, you can unify at 126 but if the fights can't get made, move up to 130," Santa Cruz told Sporting News. "Look for another title, and he says a fight against Gervonta Davis is going to be really big and I see the same thing."

Expectations are high for Santa Cruz as 2019 begins. He has to get past Flores in February, but if he does that as expected, the biggest fights of his career will be within his grasp.